Western Bay of Plenty District mayor Garry Webber. Photo / John Borren, Sun Media
Western Bay of Plenty District mayor Garry Webber. Photo / John Borren, Sun Media
Amalgamation - it's a word that has been bandied about in the Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga for three decades.
Now Western Bay of Plenty District Council mayor Garry Webber thinks it is time to take the conversation seriously and look at the future of the sub-region's two councils.
"We're like Siamese twins," he said. "We're welded together, not just at the head and the hip, but right the way down.
"The sooner we understand we need to join together and overcome the stupidity of what we have, the better off we'll all be.
"I believe over the next five years, 10 years at the latest, we should be one organisation."
He said there was a crossover between the areas' water supply, wastewater and infrastructure, giving the examples of Ōmokoroa's wastewater being processed by Tauranga and the Waiāri Water Supply Scheme that started in Te Puke providing water to Pāpāmoa.
Stuart Crosby was Tauranga's mayor for 12 years. Photo / Supplied
Webber said the kiwifruit and forestry industries and the Port of Tauranga were drivers of the local economy. Freight went through Western Bay to get to the port, so the two regions relied on each other.
Webber said now was the time to start looking at amalgamation to create a thriving sub-region in the future.
"We didn't get stuff done 20 years ago, but if we don't do it now, we're creating a district for future generations, that's going to be impossible."
Former Tauranga City mayor Stuart Crosby agreed Tauranga was a "huge beneficiary" of the Western Bay's economy.
Despite this, the Tauranga mayor from 2004 to 2016 said it was "a little premature" to amalgamate as there was currently a review into the Future for Local Government.
"It may well be a reasonable model, but we need to go through the process first," he said.
The independent ministerial review was looking at a new system of local governance in response to the changing nature of New Zealand.
There are currently 67 local councils and 11 regional councils.
Webber, who started as a councillor in 2010, believed there were "a hell of a lot of things" local government could do better.
"Project management, in local government is tardy to say the least," he said.
"It takes us far too long to work out what we want to do. And then when we work out what we want to do quite often we get it wrong, because democracy is not a skill test.
"So, we have people making well-intentioned decisions, but they haven't got the business background or the technical background," Webber said.
"A lot of the decisions become political decisions and it's around, in many instances, will this get me re-elected?
"When you're in local government, you need to have a strategic focus because you're there to do things for future generations."
Crosby said if local government took on a new form and role through the review it would be "quite exciting".
He said local government could have a stronger role in the delivery of health, social housing and employment in partnership with the government.
The review would be the first change in the local government framework in 30 years.
In 1989 local government underwent a restructure. It was proposed the Mount Maunganui Borough Council, Tauranga City Council and Western Bay amalgamate. Only Tauranga and Mount Maunganui did so.
Crosby said this was in part because the rural sector didn't want to join the city and it was a "lost opportunity".
Western Bay District councillor and mayoral candidate Don Thwaites said he was not fully opposed to amalgamation but wanted to see projects in the Western Bay achieved first.
Western Bay of Plenty district councillor Don Thwaites. Photo / John Borren, Sun Media
These included the Katikati Bypass, building a secondary school in Ōmokoroa and a community centre in Maketu.
As well as work with Tauranga on "projects of interest", like stage two of the Takitumu Northern Link, State Highway 29 Tauriko West bypass and the Ōmokoroa interchange between Ōmokoroa Rd and SH2.
"I'd like to get a few things done before we consider joining with the 50,000 ratepayers in Tauranga," he said.
"If we get swallowed into Tauranga, I can just see a big museum being built and lots of stuff down in the CBD."
The Takitumu Northern Link and Ōmokoroa interchange had been in the planning stages for close to two decades.
Last year work started on the first stage of the link, a 6.8km four-lane expressway between Tauranga and Te Puna, but the Ōmokoroa to Te Puna section was delayed by the Government.
